Plant-protector.



Patented Aug. l9, I902.

L. J. MERRIMAN. PLANT PROTECTOR.

(Application filed Aug. 19, 1901.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES.

, PATENT OFFICE.

LEONARD J. MERRIMAN, OF IVANHOE, NORTH CAROLINA.

PLANT-PROTECTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 707,247, dated August19, 1902.

Application filed August 19,1901. Serial No. 72,465. (No model.) I

To all whom, 2112 1111/17 concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD J. MERRI AN,

a citizen of the United States,residing in Ivan-.

hoe, in the county of Sampson and State of North Carolina, have inventedcertain new cover and uncover the plants in a series or a plurality ofseries at the same time.

A further object of the invention is to provide protectors which may becompactly but loosely nested for shipping or when not in use.

In the raising of certain vegetables and small fruits it is desirable toprotect the plants after having been transplanted from the rays of thesun, and when it is desired to raise plants for an early market it isdesirable to protect them from frost, freezes, and uncongenial winds,and when the crop is nearing maturity or about to be gathered for marketto protect them from rains and unseasonable frosts and winds.

In carrying out my invention I provide a protector which, if desired,may be made of wood, preferably having in cross-section a formsubstantially of asegment of a circle, which may be readily placed overthe plants and removed therefrom. employ a series of these protectors tocover a row of plants, the ends of one section may overlap the ends ofan adjoining section. For

the purpose of procuring heater and more efficient joints in the seriesthe ends of the sections are rabbeted, so that a line of sec- If it isdesired to The hoop-sections, if desired, may

port for thesection above. Such nesting will get them out of? the wayand also protect them from the weather if piled up out in the fieldwhere they have been used. If alarge number of the sections are used, itis frequently desirable to employ some means whereby several of them maybe raised from the plants at one time, and thereby held in their raisedpositions, the object of course being to save labor, to which end aseries of connections may be employed. One form of applying this meansis to have a bar or a series of connected sticks running in a directiontransverse to the series of protectors and having some ,fiexibleconnections secured to the eyes of the hoop-sections, if hoop-sectionsare used, the connection, which is fastened to one side of theprotector, passing over the vertex thereof and secured to the shiftingmeans.- By such a connection the transverse movement of the parts willproduce a rollingmotion of the sections.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a perspective view representing two rows of plantprotectorsembodying my present improvements, and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectionalview of a single protector. Fig. Sis an outer perspective view of asingle protector turned upwardly on one ofits edges-to better indicatethe. peculiar construction thereof. Fig. 4. is an end view indicatingfive of my improved protectors disposed over a similar number of plants.or rows of plants, said View showing suitable.means for raisingtheprotectors to expose the plants when desired. Fig. 5 is a similar viewof four protectors as raised or elevated and securedin suchposition.Fig. 6 is an end view of two sections of the protector nested, and Fig.7 is a view showing a modification.

Similar characters of reference refer'to corresponding parts in thevarious figures.

The protector-sections (designated in a general way by A) each comprisea body portion 8, made ofsome suitable material, which may be wood inthe form of veneer,-if desired, and which has the form of the segment ofa circle and is provided with suitable hoop-sections 9 at near the endsand for greater stability with intermediate hoop-sections 10, some orall of which hoop-sections are preferably bent at 11 around under theedges of the body portions of the protector-sections, and the endhoop-sections are each provided with upset oroutwardly-projectinglugs12, forming eyes. The ends of the protector-sections are preferablyrabbeted at 13, and they also may be provided with suitable windows 14,made of paper or fabric or some other suitable material, which may ormay not be constructed to admit a small amount or percentage of air.

For the purpose of raising the sections some suitable means may beemployed, such as a bar 15 or a series of connected sticks 15, connectedto the eyes at the end of one protector-section or a series of sectionsby some flexible connection, such as wires 16. The Wires may be securedto one of the sections by eyes there provided and each wire laid acrossthe side to which it is attached, the two wires crossing each other atabout the vertical median line of the protector-section, with the endsthereof secured to the lifting or operating bar. In this way the wiresare permitted to have a working movement past each other in themovements imparted to said operating-bar to raise or lower the sections.

In applying the protector-sections to rows of plants the rabbeted endsthereof permit the sections to be freely lapped the one over the othersuccessively throughout the full number which may be employed in eachrow or series of sections, and the raising and lowering devices arepreferably arranged so that all or a part only of saidprotector-sections may be raised and lowered together when (lesired.Thus in Fig. l the operating device 15 may be operated to raise andlower the whole of each series with which it is in connection in virtueof the described manner of fitting together the ends of the sections. Onoperating the left-hand bar 15, Fig. 1, however, the two left-handsections alone will be raised or lowered, due to the fact that they eachoverlap rather than underlap the next adjacent section thereto. Eitheror both of the operating bars or devices herein shown may obviously beextended and similarly connected with the transverse sections of as manymore series of sections as it may be desired to employ. To prevent thesections from slipping on the ground while being raised or loweredorafter having been secured in the raised position, pins or sticks driveninto the ground, as indicated at 17, may be employed. Thus it will beseen that the sections may be tipped in either direction and secured insuch tilted position and may be readily returnedto their normalposition. In Fig. 7 I have shown a modified form of joint 'for hingingthe sections to the ground, which consists in having the portion of thehoop 10 which passes under the edge of the section continued at 11 toform an eye into which vo'nee'r some suitable link 18 might be insertedand connected with a stake or pin 19, which is to be driven into theground. This construction will only admit, however, of the device beinglifted in one direction. Although I have described my invention as thesections being made of wood, yet any other suitable material may beemployed, and the eyes, for the purpose of raising and nesting, may beapplied to the sections in any other manner than by means of hoops, andalthough I have shown bars or sticks for raising the protectors anyother suitable means may be employed, and the connections may beprovided on any convenient part of the device.

I-Iavingdescribed my invention, I claim 1. A plant-protector consistingof a rigid body transversely curved and having external longitudinalribs one near each edge so arranged as to serve as supports for asimilar protector when nested therein.

2. A plant-protector comprising a series of stiff or rigid lapping,sections, and means located at a predetermined one of the series wherebythe whole number thereof are operated to be raised or lowered together.

3. The combination of a plurality of plantprotectors havingtransversely-curved rigid bodies lying parallel with each other, areciprocatable bar lying transversely above them, and a series ofcrossed pairs of flexible connections extending diagonally from the barto the protectors severally connecting the same relative lower edges ofthe latter to the bar, so that reciprocation of the latter effectseither the raising or lowering of the connected edges of the protectorssubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A plant-protector comprising a series of stiff or rigid lappingsections, and means connecting the overlapping end sections of a serieswhereby all the end sections of a series may be raised or loweredsimultaneously.

5. A plant-protector comprising one or more sections movably anchored inthe ground at one edge and provided with eyes at the sides thereof nearthe lower edge, wires or cords connecting with said eyes and crossingeach other at the top of said sections, and a movable operating-bar towhich the ends of the wires are connected.

6. A plurality of series of plant-protectors, each series being composedof veneersections comprising bodies having successively overlappingends, the first member of each series having eyes located near its edgeon opposite sides; a raising means passing over said plurality ofseries; and flexible crossed means connecting said eyes to said means.

LEONARD J. MERRIMAN.

Witnesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, O. L. RUSSELL.

